Coming out of the Closet: Exploring LGBT Issues in Strategic Communication with Theory and Research

Despite representing significant portions of the advertising, marketing, and public relations work force, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community has largely been ignored by scholarly research in strategic communications. With the exception of case studies that document strategies that can be used to secure the LGBT consumer dollar, little has been done to understand the LGBT community’s experiences with strategic communications efforts. This edited volume fills this gap by sharing research on the impact and interaction of campaigns and programming from advertising, marketing, and public relations on internal (e.g., practitioners and employees) and external (e.g., consumers, activists) stakeholders from the LGBT community. Several chapters in this volume highlight a significant change in the focus of strategic communications that recognizes the long-term benefits of having legitimate partnerships; others, however, counter this optimistic trend by discussing the continued struggles of practitioners working in strategic communication and the LGBT community at large.

Natalie T. J. Tindall (PhD, University of Maryland) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Georgia State University. She has published many book chapters and articles online and in journals such as Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Journal, Howard Journal of Communications, PRism, and the International Journal of Strategic Communication. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America Work, Life & Gender Task Force and vice chair-elect for the Public Relations Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Richard D. Waters (PhD, University of Florida) is an assistant professor in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco. He has published more than 45 research articles on stakeholder relations in the nonprofit sector, new communication technologies, and the career experiences of gay male practitioners in public relations. He serves on the editorial boards of four research journals: Journal of Public Relations Research, PRism, Journal of Public and Nonprofit Sector Marketing, and Nonprofit Management & Leadership.